“Hi, it’s Matt, I’m the problem, it’s me…” OK, so, The National’s frontman doesn’t actually deliver this line in his duet with Taylor Swift on The First Two Pages of Frankenstein, the esteemed indie band’s ninth album. But that’s the gist of “The Alcott”, on which the gravel-voiced Matt Berninger assures his most famous fan: “I’ll ruin it for you/ I’ll ruin it all over/ And over, like I always do…” As ever, there’s warm consolation in the quintet’s intelligent Eeyorishness. It’s guaranteed to soothe listeners through the yawning anhedonia that forms the backdrop to this solid (if rather hook-lite) release.
In recent interviews, Berninger has spoken about how, in 2021, he sank into the deepest depression he’d experienced as an adult. He tried therapy, antidepressants and getting sober, only to find none of it helped. “But writing a song about how nothing made a difference was the thing that made a difference,” he told Uncut this month, “That was my medicine. Lexapro doesn’t work on me, but Aaron and Bryce’s [Dessner, the band’s guitarists] sketches do.”
